Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) has revealed plans to use a tilting train on a curved track to slash commuting times from Edinburgh to London.

Alliance Rail Holdings has said that the updated GNER “pendolino” service could cut journey times between the Scottish and English capital cities from 4 hours 20 minutes to 3 hours 40 minutes, with services from Newcastle dropping to 2 hours 29 minutes.

According to itv.com, the tilting train will be able to have nine coaches, with room for around 500 seated passengers each. These plans are due for submission and review by the Office of Rail Regulation in January .

Currently, the line is operated by the government-backed East Coast, but ministers are keen to see a private franchise take over the running of it in 2015, something that the Labour government opposed.

Alliance is not interested in taking over the line, however it is looking to operate a rival service to launch in 2016 if its proposals for the high speed train are approved.

A spokesperson for Alliance told bbc.co.uk that the plans for this innovative rail service were still at their early stages.

“The appeal of the train is being greener and easier than flying,” they said.